From the murky streets of Oslo comes a four-headed snake bearing the name Tempelheks. Tempelheks is a psychedelic and occult heavy rock experience. Based on 70’s riffage, the band experiments with folky and traditional melodies coupled with eerie and mystical vocals. A groovy but hard beat drives the doomed caravan onward.

Originally conceived as a solo project by Martin Horn Sørlie (HS) in 2013 Tempelheks released their debut EP the gritty lo-fi “Red Forest ” which got picked up by a doom/stoner channel on YouTube. The unexpected attention motivated Tempelheks to write their self-titled debut album in 2014. With the debut album, the foundation of the serpent-worshipping cult’s temple was created.

The debut album was picked up by Norwegian underground label Heksekunst Productions. Both “Red Forest EP” and “Tempelheks” were recorded with limited funds and equipment in an old loft in Rælingen, outside of Oslo. The raw, unpolished sound gave the recordings a lot of character and helped build the occult atmosphere of the sound.

By the summer of 2015, a band was assembled and founding member HS was accompanied by Andreas Prestby (drums, percussion), Espen Sande Larsen (bass, backing vocals) and Sindre Øhman (guitar). Work on a new album started, which resulted in “Serpents, Gods and Men” that was released in August of 2016. This was also the first Tempelheks album to be pressed to vinyl. This time the recording sessions took place in a professional studio in Vestby, Norway. Jørn-Arild Grefsrud’s clean and powerful production took the sound in another direction, but still true to the occult and dark atmosphere of the previous releases.

Since then Tempelheks has played concerts through out Norway with bands like Dunbarrow, Horisont, Gravy Jones and Superlynx. Next step is to play abroad where the band looks to tour Scandinavia and northern Europe during fall 2018. Prior to recording their third album Tempelheks regrouped to now include a lineup constituting of HS, Sindre and new members Magnus Bjørnstad (bass & backing vocal) and Håkon Bergh (Drums & percussion).

On ‘Midnight Mirror’ Tempelheks chose to record in the renowned Cederberg studio in Kristiansand, Norway. Here they were accompanied by producer, friend, ex-label-head and vocalist of Dunbarrow; Espen Andersen. The sessions were done live and fast which gave little room for pickiness, over-thinking or compromise. The result was a characteristic, back-to-the roots kind of sound that lean more towards retro-rock than the more metal-fuelled sound of “Serpents, Gods and Men”.

The new album sees Tempelheks stretching out to incoorporate a wider sonical range. Midnight Mirror thus span a variety of influences from the darker side of hard rock bringing to front a musical footprint sure to appeal to fans of contemporary bands such as Uncle Acid, early Kadavar, HEAT, Demon Head and their fellow countrymen in Devil as well as classic acts as Thin Lizzy, Pentagram, King Crimson and Reverend Bizarre.

Pick an 8-digit code, any code and enter it at the links below. If it’s taken, try the next one. They will go fast so act fast. It helps promote further if you click the “add to collection” box and make sure you’re logged into your free account. Also be sure to download from the link it takes you to or the email that comes when you have an account in your choice of format including mp3, WAV, and FLAC for all you audiophiles out there.

First, if you don’t already have one, make sure you sign up for a free bandcamp fan account to add this to your collection and join in on all the fun. Follow your favorite bands, your favorite fans and start down the path to extreme addiction. You can’t afford to or not to do it.

Special thanks to CTRs and the rest of the team at Tempelheks for this Friday Freebie offering. And thanks to the ongoing contributors and readers of the monthly Doom Chart. You folks help give voice to the heavy underground:

Feel free to send in your albums to stonerdoomcharts@gmail.com where they’ll be delegated to the crew for a better chance at getting heard and voted on. Anything goes. If you run a blog, music review site, radio show, zine, etc in the realm of the heavy underground music scene and are interested in joining the team of contributors, drop us a mail as well.

The sun has vaporized the water and set fire to the forests. This summer has been one of the hottest for 250 years in Scandinavia and in many others parts around this world, a world that has gone mad in so many ways. But the echoes of the riffs from the heavy underground remains, despite the heatwaves, and can be heard all over the globe. The Doom Charts stands right there in the intense ray of light that we call rock’n’roll. They say the summer is a slow season for new music. It might be so but it’s also a time to discover the stuff that has been out there for awhile. And suddenly you discover something brand new you never heard before that shines brighter than a thousand suns and you feel that euphoria that only great music can give you again. The heavy underground is sometimes a crazy world in itself but it is st least our own madness.

~Magnus Tannergren

Welcome to Doom Charts, representing some of the finest bloggers, journalists, radio, podcasters and album reviewers from the doom-stoner-heavy underground around the globe. Each month, our critics submit their picks for the best new doom, sludge metal, stoner-psychedelic and heavy rock albums. The results are compiled and tabulated into the chart below. This is a one-stop shop for the best new albums in the world…

25. SVVAMP – SVVAMP 2

396 POINTS

(Jönköping, Sweden)

Incredible retro hard rock that harkens back to 1972. This is the epitome of hard classic rock, as some of these tracks would be legendary if actually recorded in the seventies. A touch of Stoner psychedelia only adds to the appeal.

Chapter II sees a steady growth of facial chop not only physically but sonically as the southern CA beach boys launch their riff wagon deep into the outer playa of the atmosphere where heavy metal grows on trees and rhythm is carved by shards of beer cans fueled by the stench of shotgun foam. OF EARTH continues on the journey of the party riff complete with mucho drum solos and Viking level vocal progression led by next level guitar thrashery.

If ever there was a pure defining example of the ‘stoner-doom’ tag, it’s this debut album from Kaiser. The full spectrum is well and truly covered – motoring down the highway at breakneck speed stoner riffage for the first five tracks… then a brief interlude ushers in the slower paced heavy, reaching into Sleep riffing territory with the superb track Earthquake. Otu (guitar/vox) not only riffs like a demon, but sings just as badass. This is a total party starter of an album worthy of any doom chart readers collection. Rrrrrifffs!!

Like opening the doors to a Funeral Parlour to be met by an organ/ mellotron induced backdrop…before descending into the aural equivalent of a Tarot reading. Seven, necromantic divinations of immense, arcane, doom.

The new Dayburner record continues on where that luscious occult doom self-titled debut released by Haunted in 2016 left off. But then our world shifts and changes and the amount of variation doubles and Haunted doubles down on giving their own spin on everything doom. This album has it all! Sweltering leads, aggressive drums, floating vocals and ominous riffs. But you can switch those words around as well. Cause that’s how impressively varied this album is!

Apart from the growling vocals at the end, opening track Bloodletting on Khemmis’s third album Desolation could be spun on every alternative radio station and it would turn on almost every freak. And this is how you could spin every one of the six tracks. It is still stoner metal and doom rock with a hardrock take and sludgy moments. But there is much more eighties metal and extremely perfect vocal delivery on this record and it should cater to everyone. Yet, it might also piss a few fans off! Open mind beardos! Open mind! It’s what this underground stuff is all about!

The debut from Alms reminds us the Maryland Doom Scene is alive and well. They summon up the root spirit the scene was influenced by; doomy, hard seventies style psych, haunting female vocals add a special layer of charm.

Do yourself a favor and give this sonic masterpiece a good listen. Right from the onset this album has a gritty feel like a Tarantino movie. It’s a journey into psyche and sound. This is the soundtrack to the end of the world. Put it on, crank it up, watch the world burn.

On his 9th album, the English machine returns after 4 years and in great shape. Wolf Bites Back bites from the first minute, a return after 4 years that confirms Orange Goblin as one of the most consistent bands in the last 2 decades. Wolf Bites Back attacks with hard riffs, accelerated and furious rhythm, and a perfect mix of rock, metal and southern blues, just like the wolf on the cover. This is a threatening and ruthless album. The best they have recorded in a long time.

The Sciences man, ya dig?! It’s heavy as fuck. It’s weird as shit. The lyrics are insanely trippy and subversive. It’s all wrapped up in a Weedian ethos whose dank stench is stronger than ever. This is the album I’ve been waiting for. This is the album I needed. The Sciences is a genre defining album by the band that defined the genre over 20 years ago. They are the gods of the riff and they are stoned immaculate. The riff tree is risen and the Pterodactyl flies again. Fucking Righteous!

Besides classical and jazz, I am just not much of a fan when it comes to instrumental music, even metal. However, there are exceptions and BONGRIPPER and their 2018 album release, ‘Terminal’. This four piece from the windy city has put forth an offering that is as dark, cold and bleak as the their hometown’s never ending crime epidemic. This album has undeniable ferocity to it, almost like it wants to pick a fight. Not much stoner jamming, just a shit-ton of bludgeoning riffage sure to make your skies a wonderful shade of overcast.

You ever read a band’s self pitch of their new album and then when you get it, leaves you flat? Not in the house of Seedy Jeezus. They bring 70’s hard riffing and killer jam’s and some superb Floydian-like lyrics and sound. From the title track ‘Polaris Oblique’ where the Bill Ward like drumming by Mark Sibson and Paul Crick’s seismic bass rule Lex Wattereus’s guitar is beyond belief at times. Burning through a killer duel with Tony Reed on Oh Lord(Part One), the radioactive heaviness of ‘All My Gods Are Stone’ with ‘Earthless’ Isaiah Mitchell. “Dripping From the Eye of the Sun” will have you hitting replay again and again it’s that good. ‘Treading Water’ is an absolute gem, this is the song you will want to desperately hear live.

With grooves inspired by the likes of Kyuss and Fu Manchu and songs that have a Latin theme running through them you might expect Red Sun Atacama to hail from either the California desert or somewhere like Chile or maybe Peru, but you would be wrong on both counts. Red Sun Atacama were birthed from the urban streets of Paris, France but that hasn’t stopped them from creating one of the desert rock hits of the summer. “Licancabur” is an enthralling tome, full to brimming over with caustic riffage, lysergic experimentation and funky desert rhythms all topped off with punk(ish) and aggressive vocal colouring, that is a blast from start to finish.

The Great Nothing is the second album from Sweden’s Kingnomad. A 42 minute trip from the inner workings of your mind to the outer reaches of the universe. Opening with some Beach Boys-esque harmonies the tone is set for your upcoming flight. A journey of emotions, cautiousness, enthusiasm…you’re constantly propelled forward through space and time. There’s also foreboding and mystery. The vocals are soothing and always comforting. You never have to worry Kingnomad is always in control. Sweet production that serves the music perfectly. Progressive rocking that is a pleasure to listen to and never a chore. There’s Jazzy rock elements that are soothing and dreamy, you just along with. Kick back in the back and let Kingnomad do the interstellar driving.

Holy smokes! Survive Sunrise may be their heaviest and most aggressive album to date, while still maintaining that signature groove and alluring pop sensibility. The 2LP limited vinyl package is earth shattering to boot. God, I love this band!

Forming the Void: It wouldn’t surprise me if Rift ends up being the best-known album of Forming the Void’s career. The revamped dynamic results in the group’s most accessible songwriting and their musicianship retains the power that made Relicso enjoyable. I do wish they had squeezed “To the Wolves” or another similarly direct chugger in here, but that’s hardly a deal-breaker. The band is getting bigger every day and it doesn’t look like the momentum will be stopping anytime soon.

From their commencing riffs that manifested like distant billowing smoke from a desolate sleeping volcano, the force that is Drug Cult is about to send our natural world into complete musical bewilderment. These are some of the thickest and heaviest riffs, fully laced with a female entity who’s vocal charm alleviates and pulls you back to consciousness throughout this 7 track journey. The atmosphere created by this four-piece from Australia is dark, satisfying and may cause intense hallucinations if not properly dosed. Expect Drug Cult’s immensely powerful new strain to reach full bloom by this Summer Solstice and will be made available for mass consumption through Ritual Productions. In the meantime you can build tolerance by previewing tracks on the official Drug Cult site.

Black Elephants aptly titled “Cosmic blues” advertises its intentions up front and delivers right from the opening eastern lick. You know straight away you are in for a psychedelic, magic carpet ride of the first order. What you also quickly realize is these guys have the riffs. The heavy, dropped off the end of a cliff, acme riffs that desert dogs chasing roadrunners like us drool over. The riffs you are always chasing. That Sabbath high you imprinted on your brain when you first experienced that magical Mary Jane infused moment worshipping at the Sabbath altar.

More expansive than the first one, it still holds all those key elements we loved so much from their first one. That stoner trucking, that speedy delivery of riffs and the slow building pummeling of the drummer. Perhaps the biggest difference is the feel of the entire record, this feels like one gigantic beast, an adventure that needs to be explored on a whole. While their debut felt like a kick ass collection of amazing tracks. Slowly, the album takes you along on the quest through that foreign wasteland becoming atmospheric one moment, oppressive the next and gritty and wild the following. Hymn Of The Cosmic Man has everything you need to get you through the day! The week! The month! The year! One hell of a follow-up!”

From the crypt of doom emerges Lucifer transformed into a bonafide rock band cut out of the bedrock from the plains where Blue Oyster Cult, early Scorpions and other great heavy rock bands have roamed through out history. Johanna Sadonis has teamed up with Nicke Andresson (Hellacopters, Entombed) to create a monumental rock album that breads fire and heavy riffs. No it’s not retro. It is just brilliant heavy rock music. Lucifer is your master.

Polish doom/stoner metal trio, SPACESLUG, have all the potential to become international metal superstars. Based on the two tracks released before their upcoming third album ‘Eye the Tide’ (“Obsolith” and “Words Like Stone ”), this band may be turning the heads and blowing the minds of many metalheads worldwide in just a short while. The vast roster of influences I hear when listening to the bands collective discography include (of course) BLACK SABBATH, TOOL, KYUSS, ALICE IN CHAINS, JOY DIViSION, CHEVELLE and early U2. I can see this band having a major crossover appeal. They create heavy, dark, astral, moody, haunting and atmospheric songs that just stick in your mind for days…as you you continue to blaze in the haze ha ha.

1968 arrive to show 2018 what heavy rock is all about with the molten riff-powered “Ballads Of The Godless”..striking songs constructed with nuances of blues, psychedelia and metallic elements that deliver a full tilt boogie on this magnificent rock record

Our Raw Heart. Yob. What can be said about their new album. Uplifting. Bleak. Reflective. Heartwarming. Challenging. Their most progressive record yet. Carrying on the similar vibes from their last album, Yob channel angry Doom metal sounds with their forward thinking lyrics that leave you questioning reality itself. The entire album channels the whole existence of the band with many familiar sounds but one that gives YOB a more legendary presence and perhaps a more human feel. The music is heavy and violent with the band building upon the historical sounds that they created on previous albums. The album runs for almost 73 minutes but Yob never outstay their welcome. Songs such as Ablaze, In Reverie, Beauty In Falling Leaves and Raw Heart leave you no doubt why they are regarded as one of the world’s best Doom Metal bands. This is Yob at their most aggressive and most passionate. Maybe I’m not the best person to review the new YOB album. However I do fully understand is that YOB IS LOVE and they’ve released the best Doom Metal Album of the year so far. Enough said.

Brimstone Coven: I was fairly concerned for Brimstone Coven’s future when they decided to continue as a trio after lead vocalist Big John Williams’s departure. The West Virginia band’s sweeping vocal harmonies made them a standout in the occult rock scene, and the other guys do have smooth voices, but could the rest of the snake retain the charisma without its head? Fortunately, a headless snake has become a hydra. Bassist Andrew D’Cagna proved to be a talented frontman in his own right with Ironflame’s 2017 debut and shares that spark with guitarist/co-vocalist Corey Roth on What Was and What Shall Be.

Since roughly 2011 or so Jay Nasser (drummer) and I have gravitated towards riff worship and the haunting sounds of doom metal. Though we had been close friends at that point for nearly ten years, our shared love of music brought us even closer, and we decided that we should try and start our own band.

A year or two later, we tried our hand at starting a band with a couple of friends (most of us having been long time friends from school) in a band that was called Legend Has It.It was a truly fun experience, we played shows semi-frequently, got a decent response most of the time, recorded an EP, and made some friends along the way. Most importantly, it set a fire off within Jay and myself, a desire to play angry and loud music, whether it fell upon deaf ears or not was not a concern at the time. We all learned a lot about ourselves from this experience, it really awakened this burning passion to play music, and it became apparent that this was something we would want to do as more than a hobby, rather is was an extension of ourselves as artists.

Though I was only on vocals for the band, I wrote a decent amount of the riffs (the more stoner-esque/sludge riffs at least), whereas our guitarist Justin would compose the thrash elements of the music. Long story short the band did not work out in the end, not all of us saw eye to eye in terms of the approach to music so we called in quits in an effort to avoid animosity between friends.

There was still a burning drive still to play shows, and to be loud and relentless, and this was not something I could let go of. It kept me awake, and even brought me down pretty severely when the practices and shows stopped, as music came to what felt like a complete and utter halt. Around 2015 or so, I decided it was time to take up guitar more seriously, try and learn to hold my own when it comes to playing. As it turns out, Jay had the same desire to continue to play shows and to keep making music, and in this prompted us once again to start playing music together.

What started out as an excited conversation between two friends eventually became plans to start a new band, whose only goal was to write loud music and to play as many shows as possible. We started out as an instrumental two piece, consisting of myself on guitar, and Jay on drums. Our name was DankBrain, and in our warehouse we began shaping songs together that would eventually become the content of our first two demos as Iron Buddha.

The songs were strange, and very different from what we had played before, or what we were used to for that matter but we didn’t care too much as they were fulfilling and helped quell the desire to play music. After a few months, we decided it was time to play our debut show as DankBrain, and lord help us all, we had a gimmick. The gimmick, original and creative in nature, was to wear ski masks on stage, concealing our identities; pretty unique I know. We got into contact with a friend we had made during our time playing as Legend Has It, who hooked us up with a show at a seemingly abandoned and skuzzy bikers bar in the middle of nowhere, dubbed appropriately as Ballers Sports Bar, a title befitting of the drunken biker dads who collectively filled half the seats of the bar. The goal was to play our set, and get the hell out of there, maintaining a sense of mystery to our personas. The show was as successful as it could have been for two dorks in ski masks on stage, and to some degree it fulfilled that drive to play shows, or at least reignited a fire in us. Well after that show, we dropped the gimmick, turns out there are lots of bands with masks (who knew, right?).

Iron Buddha – Old Hex (2018)

Iron Buddha is a stoner//doom band hailing from the swamps of south Florida.
Beginning in 2016, the band originally started as an instrumental two piece, with Emilio Acosta on guitar and Jihad (Jay) Nasser on drums. The band started from the ashes of Jay and Emilio’s previous band, Legend Has It.

With the end of one band began the start of another, an effort ventured in order to satisfy the burning drive to play loud and pummeling riffs. Iron Buddha would go on to put out two demos in 2016, consisting of songs that were shaped during the early stages of the bands formation.

The songs were new and strange, as they were quite different from what was known to either member. As more time passed, the songs written by Iron Buddha began to shape differently, each unique in its own regard, although similar in tone, no one song sounding like the other.

With bands like the Melvins, Fu Manchu, and Sleep to inspire them, Iron Buddha would later go on to release their debut EP, RAT in early 2017. As the music changed, it warranted the need for bass guitar in the mix, in order to give the songs more of that stoner//doom beefiness. Enter Joao (Jiean) Laxamana, present bassist of Iron Buddha, whom Jay and Emilio had met whilst playing on the same bill as the band Raff, whom Joao played bass for as well.

In late 2017, the three began writing material for what would become the material for their upcoming debut full length release, Old Hex. The new material (aside from two songs which appeared on previous demos) was a step in a different direction, and the start of a new approach to songwriting for the band.

Iron Buddha’s debut full length album, Old Hex, is out July, 21st via Cut-N-Paste Records, available on Bandcamp and through most streaming/music providers.

Pick an 8-digit code, any code and enter it at the links below. If it’s taken, try the next one. They will go fast so act fast. It helps promote further if you click the “add to collection” box and make sure you’re logged into your free account. Also be sure to download from the link it takes you to or the email that comes when you have an account in your choice of format including mp3, WAV, and FLAC for all you audiophiles out there.

First, if you don’t already have one, make sure you sign up for a free bandcamp fan account to add this to your collection and join in on all the fun. Follow your favorite bands, your favorite fans and start down the path to extreme addiction. You can’t afford to or not to do it.

Special thanks to Emilio and the rest of the gang at Iron Buddha headquarters for this Friday Freebie offering. And thanks to the ongoing contributors and readers of the monthly Doom Chart. You folks help give voice to the heavy underground:

Feel free to send in your albums to stonerdoomcharts@gmail.com where they’ll be delegated to the crew for a better chance at getting heard and voted on. Anything goes. If you run a blog, music review site, radio show, zine, etc in the realm of the heavy underground music scene and are interested in joining the team of contributors, drop us a mail as well.

The year is halfway over already and the intensity continues to build each month here at the Doom Charts. We are growing our roster, our team, our family, reaching into deeper waters and harvesting a larger cross section of the heavy underground. This month marks the end of the beginning of the year and the beginning of the end. Nearly 300 individual unique albums were voted for this month of which 25 made the final cut, based on frequency and ranking, presented below. Another month splitting the tally between newcomers and repeat acts vowing towards the throne of Doom at #1. Turn out the lights folks.

Welcome to Doom Charts, representing some of the finest bloggers, journalists, radio, podcasters and album reviewers from the doom-stoner-heavy underground around the globe. Each month, our critics submit their picks for the best new doom, sludge metal, stoner-psychedelic and heavy rock albums. The results are compiled and tabulated into the chart below. This is a one-stop shop for the best new albums in the world…

25. CHRCH – LIGHT WILL CONSUME US ALL / NEW!

(Sacramento, CA)

It’s easy to be consumed by this record. The songwriting allows space for the songs to breath while demanding the listener to commit. Light Will Consume Us All sets the album tone with a dark, distant guitar introduction. The feeling of loss weighs upon the listener and brought me to imagine a vessel adrift. Once the band has collectively established it’s presence, the sonic wall becomes a dense ocean of doom. The return trip through the origin theme feels more peaceful and welcoming. We have weathered the storm and now submit ourselves to the next stage.

Polish doom/stoner metal trio, SPACESLUG, have all the potential to become international metal superstars. Based on the two tracks released before their upcoming third album ‘Eye the Tide’ (“Obsolith” and “Words Like Stone ”), this band may be turning the heads and blowing the minds of many metalheads worldwide in just a short while. The vast roster of influences I hear when listening to the bands collective discography include (of course) BLACK SABBATH, TOOL, KYUSS, ALICE IN CHAINS, JOY DIViSION, CHEVELLE and early U2. I can see this band having a major crossover appeal. They create heavy, dark, astral, moody, haunting and atmospheric songs that just stick in your mind for days…as you you continue to blaze in the haze ha ha.

On Gozu’s last record Revival really showed their qualities. The ballsy downtuned guitars and rhythm section were a strong combo with the clean vocals. Equilibrium is all about perfecting Gozu’s kickass sound. The songs are better crafted, the transitions within the songs sound smoother and the (back up) vocal lines catchier than ever. Without losing nothing of that heaviness we love about this band.

I don’t know what happened between this album and their last one, but Boss Keloid have taken a serious evolutionary leap forward. I mean, we were crazy about previous records, but ‘Melted on the Inch’ (2018) is absolutely possessed by a mad fever of creative inspiration. From “Chronosiam” on, we’re treated to unexpectedly fresh songcraft, one surprise (the plucky “Tarku Shavel”) after another (the proggy, jazzy-infused “Peykruve“). You never quite know what’s in store for you next, but what you do know is that each Boss Keloid track will be filled with thoughtful touches, whether that means experimenting with complex rhythms, unusual instrumentation or alluring vocal harmonies in this moment or that. Now, if you loved the “old” Boss Keloid this might have you worried, but fear not – Alex Hurst and the boys have not lost even a fraction of the gritty soul that made them so special to begin with. Melted on the Inch is, quite frankly, just the shot in the arm the heavy underground needed to encourage everyone to start pushing beyond their stylistic moorings.

Apart from the growling vocals at the end, opening track Bloodletting on Khemmis’s third album Desolation could be spun on every alternative radio station and it would turn on almost every freak. And this is how you could spin every one of the six tracks. It is still stoner metal and doom rock with a hardrock take and sludgy moments. But there is much more eighties metal and extremely perfect vocal delivery on this record and it should cater to everyone. Yet, it might also piss a few fans off! Open mind beardos! Open mind! It’s what this underground stuff is all about!

The Swiss Mystic Sons arrive with a S/T debut constructed with fuzzy riffs, syrupy rhythms and bluesy, southern-infused stoner/desert rock! Using a tapestry of chunky, smoldering riffs as their base, the band serves a heaping helping of psyche-tinged rock and roll bluster on their first full-length offering.

More expansive than the first one, it still holds all those key elements we loved so much from their first one. That stoner trucking, that speedy delivery of riffs and the slow building pummeling of the drummer. Perhaps the biggest difference is the feel of the entire record, this feels like one gigantic beast, an adventure that needs to be explored on a whole. While their debut felt like a kick ass collection of amazing tracks. Slowly, the album takes you along on the quest through that foreign wasteland becoming atmospheric one moment, oppressive the next and gritty and wild the following. Hymn Of The Cosmic Man has everything you need to get you through the day! The week! The month! The year! One hell of a follow-up!”

The debut from Alms reminds us the Maryland Doom Scene is alive and well. They summon up the root spirit the scene was influenced by; doomy, hard seventies style psych, haunting female vocals add a special layer of charm.

The new Dayburner record continues on where that luscious occult doom self-titled debut released by Haunted in 2016 left off. But then our world shifts and changes and the amount of variation doubles and Haunted doubles down on giving their own spin on everything doom. This album has it all! Sweltering leads, aggressive drums, floating vocals and ominous riffs. But you can switch those words around as well. Cause that’s how impressively varied this album is!

With exception to the comparably higher budgeted Ghost, no group in the occult rock movement has the same scope and spectacle as Church of the Cosmic Skull. Plenty of other bands have the same adherence to bright 70s-style riffing and organ flourishes, but I’ve not seen a band with such elaborate Beatles-esque vocal work since the early days of King’s X or even ELO. Having seven members in the band makes it easy to achieve such a bombastic sound but even without the extra hands, the Church’s second full-length album Science Fiction would still be just as enjoyable.

From the City of Angels, High Priestess makes its exultant return to the Doom Charts with its full label debut on Ripple Music, bringing dreamy harmonies, crushing riffs, and pulsating rhythms that are pleasing to the ear. From middle eastern tones, to a twisted lullabye gone wrong, to lysergic sounds that could have been made in the 70s, High Priestess delivers the stoner/doom/psych goods. This release will have the masses worshipping at the altar of High Priestess in due course.

Holy smokes! Survive Sunrise may be their heaviest and most aggressive album to date, while still maintaining that signature groove and alluring pop sensibility. The 2LP limited vinyl package is earth shattering to boot. God, I love this band!

As indicated by the surprisingly menacing album art, Mos Generator has never been as heavy or dark as they are on Shadowlands. Past outings like 2014’s Electric Mountain Majesty have their hard-hitting moments, but it’s hard to think of a time when the Washington band’s approach has sounded this muscular. There’s not even been any shift to all-out metal either; Tony Reed and co.’s love of all things ’70s rock is firmly intact.

From their commencing riffs that manifested like distant billowing smoke from a desolate sleeping volcano, the force that is Drug Cult is about to send our natural world into complete musical bewilderment. These are some of the thickest and heaviest riffs, fully laced with a female entity who’s vocal charm alleviates and pulls you back to consciousness throughout this 7 track journey. The atmosphere created by this four-piece from Australia is dark, satisfying and may cause intense hallucinations if not properly dosed. Expect Drug Cult’s immensely powerful new strain to reach full bloom by this Summer Solstice and will be made available for mass consumption through Ritual Productions. In the meantime you can build tolerance by previewing tracks on the official Drug Cult site.

The transcanadian locomotive is back and they are more furious than ever. This new album confirms that their fulminating doom / sludge comes more raw and repulsive, their rising and violent step seems not to stop. Power, fierceness, anger, saturated bass lines, rotten guitars with corrosive grooves, sickly percussion and unique vocal screams of these beasts. Beware! Protect yourself, they will be rammed by one of the most beastly albums of 2018.

On his 9th album, the English machine returns after 4 years and in great shape. Wolf Bites Back bites from the first minute, a return after 4 years that confirms Orange Goblin as one of the most consistent bands in the last 2 decades. Wolf Bites Back attacks with hard riffs, accelerated and furious rhythm, and a perfect mix of rock, metal and southern blues, just like the wolf on the cover. This is a threatening and ruthless album. The best they have recorded in a long time.

Incredible retro hard rock that harkens back to 1972. This is the epitome of hard classic rock, as some of these tracks would be legendary if actually recorded in the seventies. A touch of Stoner psychedelia only adds to the appeal.

If ever there was a pure defining example of the ‘stoner-doom’ tag, it’s this debut album from Kaiser. The full spectrum is well and truly covered – motoring down the highway at breakneck speed stoner riffage for the first five tracks… then a brief interlude ushers in the slower paced heavy, reaching into Sleep riffing territory with the superb track Earthquake. Otu (guitar/vox) not only riffs like a demon, but sings just as badass. This is a total party starter of an album worthy of any doom chart readers collection. Rrrrrifffs!!

Beastmaker dropped an amazing 32 fuzzfilled, doomtinged songs spanning 8 EPs in just 20 days, no easy feat. What makes the accomplishment all the more impressive is band leader Trevor William Church played every instrument and did all the vocals etc. on all 32 doomerific, horror themed tracks. His secret, he’s a workaholic and he writes constantly, it’s a good thing for fans that the caliber of the material is so high, there’s not a clunker to be found among the 8 EPs, which each feature Max Temblay Horror themed cover art and are destined for a vinyl release that will pair the EPs off in sets of two with flip covers and an insert.

The musical sound is consistent through all 32 tracks, b-Horror movie sound clips are peppered throughout the body of work, spicing things up, I think I even recognized Vincent Price’s voice in there. Doom aficionados will eat these EPs up. The downside, Church foresees a period of inactivity after the glut, predicting 2019 before anything more.

Witch Mountain’s fifth album may take a couple extra listens to get a feel for, but it does an excellent job of summing up everything that the band has to offer. You’ll find the same slow blues doom that they’ve been peddling since their 2011 comeback but there’s no denying that the singer switch resulted in what may be their most aggressive album so far. Longtime fans need not fear the changes, Witch Mountain has only gotten stronger.

The Sciences man, ya dig?! It’s heavy as fuck. It’s weird as shit. The lyrics are insanely trippy and subversive. It’s all wrapped up in a Weedian ethos whose dank stench is stronger than ever. This is the album I’ve been waiting for. This is the album I needed. The Sciences is a genre defining album by the band that defined the genre over 20 years ago. They are the gods of the riff and they are stoned immaculate. The riff tree is risen and the Pterodactyl flies again. Fucking Righteous!

You ever read a band’s self pitch of their new album and then when you get it, leaves you flat? Not in the house of Seedy Jeezus. They bring 70’s hard riffing and killer jam’s and some superb Floydian-like lyrics and sound. From the title track ‘Polaris Oblique’ where the Bill Ward like drumming by Mark Sibson and Paul Crick’s seismic bass rule Lex Wattereus’s guitar is beyond belief at times. Burning through a killer duel with Tony Reed on Oh Lord(Part One), the radioactive heaviness of ‘All My Gods Are Stone’ with ‘Earthless’ Isaiah Mitchell. “Dripping From the Eye of the Sun” will have you hitting replay again and again it’s that good. ‘Treading Water’ is an absolute gem, this is the song you will want to desperately hear live.

Graveyard gave us a scare when they broke up in 2016, but just a few months later they were back in action with a new drummer. The band is better than ever on their fifth album, even if the songwriting isn’t quite as memorable as on Lights Out (2012). Possibly the most striking song is “Del Manic,” which has Joakim Nilsson reaching down into a lower register. Graveyard has always been more about locking in as an ensemble rather than showing off soloists, and the tensions between restraint and release pays off repeatedly.

Our Raw Heart. Yob. What can be said about their new album. Uplifting. Bleak. Reflective. Heartwarming. Challenging. Their most progressive record yet. Carrying on the similar vibes from their last album, Yob channel angry Doom metal sounds with their forward thinking lyrics that leave you questioning reality itself. The entire album channels the whole existence of the band with many familiar sounds but one that gives YOB a more legendary presence and perhaps a more human feel. The music is heavy and violent with the band building upon the historical sounds that they created on previous albums. The album runs for almost 73 minutes but Yob never outstay their welcome. Songs such as Ablaze, In Reverie, Beauty In Falling Leaves and Raw Heart leave you no doubt why they are regarded as one of the world’s best Doom Metal bands. This is Yob at their most aggressive and most passionate. Maybe I’m not the best person to review the new YOB album. However I do fully understand is that YOB IS LOVE and they’ve released the best Doom Metal Album of the year so far. Enough said.

Feel free to send in your albums to stonerdoomcharts@gmail.com where they’ll be delegated to the crew above to determine their thoughts and gather the votes at the end of the month.

This June 2018 edition of the Doom Chart was tallied and edited by Bucky Brown.

]]>https://doomcharts.com/2018/07/02/doom-charts-june-2018/feed/2YOBbuck09brownseparatorCHRCHseparatorEYE OF THE TIDEseparatorGOZU - EQUILseparatorBOSS KELOIDseparatorKHEMMIS - ISOLATIONseparatorWitchskull-Coven-s-Will-separatormystic sonsseparatorHYMN OF THE COSMIC MANseparatorALMSseparatorDayburnerseparatorchurchseparatorhighseparatorASGseparatorSHADOWLANDSseparatordrug-cult-drug-cultseparatordopeseparatorOrange Goblinseparatorsvvamp2separatorKasierseparatorbeastmaker EP1separatorwwseparatorSLEEPseparatorSEEDY-JEEZUS-POLARIS-OBLIQUEseparatorgraveyard-peaceseparatorYOBseparatorFriday Freebie – Knolling Boneshttps://doomcharts.com/2018/06/08/friday-freebie-knolling-bones/
https://doomcharts.com/2018/06/08/friday-freebie-knolling-bones/#respondFri, 08 Jun 2018 20:02:23 +0000http://doomcharts.com/?p=8436Today’s freebie is from a band based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Knolling Bones sound like somewhat of a hybrid hardcore, stoner and sludge band. The 2-piece kind of sounds a bit like Rage Against the Machine with its super bass heavy riffs, and aggressive and spastic fuzz in the vein of Fu Manchu. Not something you hear everyday, but its worth a listen.

First, if you don’t already have one, make sure you sign up for a free bandcamp fan account to add this to your collection and join in on all the fun. Follow your favorite bands, your favorite fans and start down the path to extreme addiction. You can’t afford to or not to do it.

Pick an 8-digit code, any code and enter it at the links below. If it’s taken, try the next one. They will go fast so act fast. It helps promote further if you click the “add to collection” box and make sure you’re logged into your free account. Also be sure to download from the link it takes you to or the email that comes when you have an account in your choice of format including mp3, WAV, and FLAC for all you audiophiles out there.

Knolling Bones – Knolling Bones (2018)

Check this chaos out. Let us know what you think. You can’t afford not to.

Special thanks to Knolling Bones for this Friday Freebie offering. And thanks to the ongoing contributors and readers of the monthly Doom Chart. You folks help give voice to the heavy underground:

Feel free to send in your albums to stonerdoomcharts@gmail.com where they’ll be delegated to the crew for a better chance at getting heard and voted on. Anything goes. If you run a blog, music review site, radio show, zine, etc in the realm of the heavy underground music scene and are interested in joining the team of contributors, drop us a mail as well.

And here we are again. At the beginning of June with a quick glance over our shoulder towards that wonderful month of May. A month that saw the release of so many great albums, that after the voting had stopped, the total tally exceeded the 260 mark. Amazing. And we only feature the 25 that received the most amount of votes. Which also means that there are those albums that only barely missed it. CHRCH and their LIGHT WILL CONSUME US ALL release for instance, OAK with their III album and EL ROJO with their 16 INCHES RADIAL record. It’s heavy not featuring them, but the list is what it is. A swift scan of everything we loved and will continue to love! Cause, that is of course, what consoles us all. It isn’t over and we can continue to listen to all those 260 albums for the rest of our lives!

Welcome to Doom Charts, representing some of the finest bloggers, journalists, radio, podcasters and album reviewers from the doom-stoner-heavy underground around the globe. Each month, our critics submit their picks for the best new doom, sludge metal, stoner-psychedelic and heavy rock albums. The results are compiled and tabulated into the chart below. This is a one-stop shop for the best new albums in the world…

25. APOSTLE OF SOLITUDE – FROM GOLD TO ASH

(Indianapolis, Indiana)

After four years, Apostle of Solitude is back with new music for the downtrodden and broken people of the world. From Gold to Ash is their heaviest and most somber outing to date, and you won’t find any up-tempo songs like on their previous efforts. What you will find are slow burning, complex songs with intricate vocal harmonies courtesy of Chuck Brown and Steve Janiak. The seven tracks perfectly encapsulate the feelings of being trapped beneath the cloud covered grey skies of Indianapolis during the dreary winter months. Highlights include the sleepy melodies of “Autumn Moon” and the solemn heartfelt vibes of “My Heart is Leaving Here.” Highly recommended!

The sounds of fiery stoned psychedelic rock blasting from my headphones means that Black Rainbows have got a new album out. It feels a bit darker and heavier this time around. Fuzz, powerful riffs, great song compositions and vocals buried under the sonic assault continue the fine run of Black Rainbows releases.

The Thundering Heard is a stampede of creative riffs and sonic textures. Woven together into a tight tapestry of bottom-heavy tracks, the feel of the album is simultaneously sinister and meditative. Upon first listen, it’s hard not to be impressed by the sheer power of the music, but the true beauty is revealed through repeated plays. It’s here that the brilliantly balanced mix and frequency separation dazzles the ears, navigating deep oceans of bass and chaotic fretboard explorations, with equal skill. The Thundering Heard is an auditory tour-de-force, and one of 2018’s standout releases.

Mr. Bison trample us with a lysergic array of hairy riffs and pummeling groove. The Hendrixian fuzz echos a wicked tone as the rhythm intensifies each and every song. Holy Oak stands tall and will be considered a paramount heavy rock release of 2018.

New Jersey’s rockin’-est trade in their space suits for leather jackets and get all Punk AF on their 11th studio full-length. These stoner rock pioneers return to their roots and show the old school and new why Monster Magnet is a household name the whole world over…with a no-nonsense record devoid of BS and polish. Mindfucker is Rock ‘N Roll psychotherapy for the music loving masses”

Heavy grooves and sunshine vibes are not always the best of bedfellows, but Brooklyn’s Sun Voyager have managed to somehow combine the two in what has to be 2018’s feel good hit of the summer. Whether this good times vibe was an intentional move is debateable, given that the band pepper their new album with titles like “ Caves of Steel” and “God Is Dead”, but warm sunshine and cloudless blue skies are the perfect companions and listening environment for the eight superbly written and executed songs served up here.

If ever there was a pure defining example of the ‘stoner-doom’ tag, it’s this debut album from Kaiser. The full spectrum is well and truly covered – motoring down the highway at breakneck speed stoner riffage for the first five tracks… then a brief interlude ushers in the slower paced heavy, reaching into Sleep riffing territory with the superb track Earthquake. Otu (guitar/vox) not only riffs like a demon, but sings just as badass. This is a total party starter of an album worthy of any doom chart readers collection. Rrrrrifffs!!

These guys and gal bring the swagger. A hard edged, bluesy swagger that’ll keep your head bobbing to the groove and your fists pumping through the fuzz. True and blue Southern CA Rock n’ roll. For fans of Honeymoon Disease, Spiders, etc. Gotta love that raspy croon and can I say “More Cowbell?”

From their commencing riffs that manifested like distant billowing smoke from a desolate sleeping volcano, the force that is Drug Cult is about to send our natural world into complete musical bewilderment. These are some of the thickest and heaviest riffs, fully laced with a female entity who’s vocal charm alleviates and pulls you back to consciousness throughout this 7 track journey. The atmosphere created by this four-piece from Australia is dark, satisfying and may cause intense hallucinations if not properly dosed. Expect Drug Cult’s immensely powerful new strain to reach full bloom by this Summer Solstice and will be made available for mass consumption through Ritual Productions. In the meantime you can build tolerance by previewing tracks on the official Drug Cult site.

The all-female outfit Blackwater Holylight, releases their first effort through RidingEasy Records. Resounding riffs, enchanting vocals and a rhythmic approach that melt over in each other and galvanizes your moment in time. A wild, heavy, fuzzy, psychedelic record that will make you dream of witches and will make your dreams bewitched. Impressive debut for sure!

Messa is another band that has broken free of stylistic constraints, manifesting a brilliant metamorphosis with every album the produce. I knew how special Feast for Water (2018) was going to be when I heard single, “Leah.” It struck me with the same send of awe that “Babalon” did on their last album, ‘Belfry’ (2016). It alone is worth the price of admission for the brilliant way it wrangles together doom, blues, and jazz influences and makes them all play nice together. It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what to call this album. It’s most definitely metal, but not unlike the latest Boss Keloid offering, Feast For Water manages to transcend the boundaries of genre. It’s as though music has entered a strange Event Horizon where the lines of convention bend and blur in beautiful contradiction. One thing that is consistent throughout the record, of course, is that this is dark, melancholy fare with flashes of sunlight breaking through the clouds. Feast for Water is an experience and I suspect if the band grows in recognition, the Italian collective will be putting on some incredible live shows with this material.

I don’t know what happened between this album and their last one, but Boss Keloid have taken a serious evolutionary leap forward. I mean, we were crazy about previous records, but ‘Melted on the Inch’ (2018) is absolutely possessed by a mad fever of creative inspiration. From “Chronosiam” on, we’re treated to unexpectedly fresh songcraft, one surprise (the plucky “Tarku Shavel”) after another (the proggy, jazzy-infused “Peykruve“). You never quite know what’s in store for you next, but what you do know is that each Boss Keloid track will be filled with thoughtful touches, whether that means experimenting with complex rhythms, unusual instrumentation or alluring vocal harmonies in this moment or that. Now, if you loved the “old” Boss Keloid this might have you worried, but fear not – Alex Hurst and the boys have not lost even a fraction of the gritty soul that made them so special to begin with. Melted on the Inch is, quite frankly, just the shot in the arm the heavy underground needed to encourage everyone to start pushing beyond their stylistic moorings.

On Gozu’s last record Revival really showed their qualities. The ballsy downtuned guitars and rhythm section were a strong combo with the clean vocals. Equilibrium is all about perfecting Gozu’s kickass sound. The songs are better crafted, the transitions within the songs sound smoother and the (back up) vocal lines catchier than ever. Without losing nothing of that heaviness we love about this band.

With exception to the comparably higher budgeted Ghost, no group in the occult rock movement has the same scope and spectacle as Church of the Cosmic Skull. Plenty of other bands have the same adherence to bright 70s-style riffing and organ flourishes, but I’ve not seen a band with such elaborate Beatles-esque vocal work since the early days of King’s X or even ELO. Having seven members in the band makes it easy to achieve such a bombastic sound but even without the extra hands, the Church’s second full-length album Science Fiction would still be just as enjoyable.

You ever read a band’s self pitch of their new album and then when you get it, leaves you flat? Not in the house of Seedy Jeezus. They bring 70’s hard riffing and killer jam’s and some superb Floydian-like lyrics and sound. From the title track ‘Polaris Oblique’ where the Bill Ward like drumming by Mark Sibson and Paul Crick’s seismic bass rule Lex Wattereus’s guitar is beyond belief at times. Burning through a killer duel with Tony Reed on Oh Lord(Part One), the radioactive heaviness of ‘All My Gods Are Stone’ with ‘Earthless’ Isaiah Mitchell. “Dripping From the Eye of the Sun” will have you hitting replay again and again it’s that good. ‘Treading Water’ is an absolute gem, this is the song you will want to desperately hear live.

Somerset’s Sergeant Thunderhoof are that weird exception to the rule, a band who have turned down record label interest so that they can control their own destiny, a band who like doing things for themselves, and more power to them for doing that because so far it seems to be working. Terra Solus is the bands third studio album and if you are familiar with their past work you will know to expect plenty of addictive grooviness, raucous riffage and hazy psychedelics all executed with a breath-taking level of musicianship and outstanding display of vocal dynamics and Terra Solus does not disappoint in any of those departments.

Earthless are back and this time with a twist – vocals! But never fear, faithful fanatics, the sonic madness and mind bending riffing are still here but with a sense of purpose …sometimes I felt previous songs could be interchanged with any album – after all, jam based freak-outs can kinda sound the same. But now with vocals circa early 70’s, each song gains its own identity. Nothing has really changed that much – just tighter, freakier and much head nodding moments. Embrace the changes …. You might like it!

This is a blast from start to finish. Punk-Stoner energy rubs shoulders with Proto-Doom riffs and ride their rumbling Harleys through the world of Acid Rock guitar solos. Clever use of samples and the sheer joy of playing this album loud as hell make you forget that the whole thing is instrumental. The cover matches the content!

From the City of Angels, High Priestess makes its exultant return to the Doom Charts with its full label debut on Ripple Music, bringing dreamy harmonies, crushing riffs, and pulsating rhythms that are pleasing to the ear. From middle eastern tones, to a twisted lullabye gone wrong, to lysergic sounds that could have been made in the 70s, High Priestess delivers the stoner/doom/psych goods. This release will have the masses worshipping at the altar of High Priestess in due course.

The transcanadian locomotive is back and they are more furious than ever. This new album confirms that their fulminating doom / sludge comes more raw and repulsive, their rising and violent step seems not to stop. Power, fierceness, anger, saturated bass lines, rotten guitars with corrosive grooves, sickly percussion and unique vocal screams of these beasts. Beware! Protect yourself, they will be rammed by one of the most beastly albums of 2018.

Our Raw Heart. Yob. What can be said about their new album. Uplifting. Bleak. Reflective. Heartwarming. Challenging. Their most progressive record yet. Carrying on the similar vibes from their last album, Yob channel angry Doom metal sounds with their forward thinking lyrics that leave you questioning reality itself. The entire album channels the whole existence of the band with many familiar sounds but one that gives YOB a more legendary presence and perhaps a more human feel. The music is heavy and violent with the band building upon the historical sounds that they created on previous albums. The album runs for almost 73 minutes but Yob never outstay their welcome. Songs such as Ablaze, In Reverie, Beauty In Falling Leaves and Raw Heart leave you no doubt why they are regarded as one of the world’s best Doom Metal bands. This is Yob at their most aggressive and most passionate. Maybe I’m not the best person to review the new YOB album. However I do fully understand is that YOB IS LOVE and they’ve released the best Doom Metal Album of the year so far. Enough said.

As indicated by the surprisingly menacing album art, Mos Generator has never been as heavy or dark as they are on Shadowlands. Past outings like 2014’s Electric Mountain Majesty have their hard-hitting moments, but it’s hard to think of a time when the Washington band’s approach has sounded this muscular. There’s not even been any shift to all-out metal either; Tony Reed and co.’s love of all things ’70s rock is firmly intact.

Witch Mountain’s fifth album may take a couple extra listens to get a feel for, but it does an excellent job of summing up everything that the band has to offer. You’ll find the same slow blues doom that they’ve been peddling since their 2011 comeback but there’s no denying that the singer switch resulted in what may be their most aggressive album so far. Longtime fans need not fear the changes, Witch Mountain has only gotten stronger.

Graveyard gave us a scare when they broke up in 2016, but just a few months later they were back in action with a new drummer. The band is better than ever on their fifth album, even if the songwriting isn’t quite as memorable as on Lights Out (2012). Possibly the most striking song is “Del Manic,” which has Joakim Nilsson reaching down into a lower register. Graveyard has always been more about locking in as an ensemble rather than showing off soloists, and the tensions between restraint and release pays off repeatedly.

The Sciences man, ya dig?! It’s heavy as fuck. It’s weird as shit. The lyrics are insanely trippy and subversive. It’s all wrapped up in a Weedian ethos whose dank stench is stronger than ever. This is the album I’ve been waiting for. This is the album I needed. The Sciences is a genre defining album by the band that defined the genre over 20 years ago. They are the gods of the riff and they are stoned immaculate. The riff tree is risen and the Pterodactyl flies again. Fucking Righteous!

Feel free to send in your albums to stonerdoomcharts@gmail.com where they’ll be delegated to the crew above to determine their thoughts and gather the votes at the end of the month.

This May 2018 edition of the Doom Chart was tallied by Bucky Brown and edited by Joop Konraad.

]]>https://doomcharts.com/2018/06/04/doom-charts-may-2018/feed/3sleep2joopkonraadseparatorAPOSTLEseparatorBLACK RAINBOWSseparatorEAGLE TWINseparatorMRBISONseparatorMONSTER MAGNETseparatorSUNseparatorKasierseparatorabolethseparatordrug-cult-drug-cultseparatorBLACKWATER HOLYLIGHTseparatorMESSAseparatorBOSS KELOIDseparatorGOZU - EQUILseparatorchurchseparatorSEEDY-JEEZUS-POLARIS-OBLIQUEseparatorthunderhoofseparatorearthless-black-heavenseparatordeawtseparatorhighseparatordopeseparatorYOBseparatorSHADOWLANDSseparatorwwseparatorgraveyard-peaceseparatorSLEEPseparatorMonday Minute – Bandcamp Codes El Rojohttps://doomcharts.com/2018/05/21/monday-minute-bandcamp-codes-el-rojo/
https://doomcharts.com/2018/05/21/monday-minute-bandcamp-codes-el-rojo/#respondTue, 22 May 2018 03:13:44 +0000http://doomcharts.com/?p=8398Today’s freebie comes impromptu all the way from Morano Calabro, Italy. The band is El Rojo and we’re ready to turn those Monday Blues into some Monday heavy rocking blues. This is some high energy, hard rocking, groove inducing, shit kicking rock n’ roll. Ya, it’s not Doom but if you’ve been paying attention it doesn’t have to be doom to kick your ass. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and found myself bobbing my head multiple times today at work. Tell us what you think.

First, if you don’t already have one, make sure you sign up for a free bandcamp fan account to add this to your collection and join in on all the fun. Follow your favorite bands, your favorite fans and start down the path to extreme addiction. You can’t afford to or not to do it.

Pick an 8-digit code, any code and enter it at the links below. If it’s taken, try the next one. They will go fast so act fast. It helps promote further if you click the “add to collection” box and make sure you’re logged into your free account. Also be sure to download from the link it takes you to or the email that comes when you have an account in your choice of format including mp3, WAV, and FLAC for all you audiophiles out there.

About the Band

You tell us. The band is newly on the radar here at the Doom Charts. Taking a look at the cover you could have a good idea of what you’re in for. The riffs are dusty, the groove is hazy, the vocals are beefy and melodic. El Rojo is gassed up and ready to shred a heavy bluesing twang your way on its debut EP. You have nothing to lose but your mind so get in before the dust settles.

Special thanks to El Rojo for the download codes. And thanks to the ongoing contributors and readers of the monthly Doom Chart. You folks help give voice to the heavy underground:

Feel free to send in your albums to stonerdoomcharts@gmail.com where they’ll be delegated to the crew for a better chance at getting heard and voted on. Anything goes. If you run a blog, music review site, radio show, zine, etc in the realm of the heavy underground music scene and are interested in joining the team of contributors, drop us a mail as well.

]]>https://doomcharts.com/2018/05/21/monday-minute-bandcamp-codes-el-rojo/feed/0El Rojo2buck09brownseparatorEl RojoseparatorFreebie Friday – Bandcamp Code Third Islandhttps://doomcharts.com/2018/05/11/freebie-friday-bandcamp-code-third-island/
https://doomcharts.com/2018/05/11/freebie-friday-bandcamp-code-third-island/#respondFri, 11 May 2018 12:28:54 +0000http://doomcharts.com/?p=8388Today’s freebie comes to us by way of Ireland and the band Third Island. Honestly the band is pretty new to us, but based on our preview and the bands PR one that skirts the divide between sludge, doom and post-metal. You can’t go wrong with that combination. The band has CDs, tee shirts and other albums available on their bandcamp page, so if you like what you hear, please support the band.

First, if you don’t already have one, make sure you sign up for a free bandcamp fan account to add this to your collection and join in on all the fun. Follow your favorite bands, your favorite fans and start down the path to extreme addiction. You can’t afford to or not to do it.

Pick an 8-digit code, any code and enter it at the links below. If it’s taken, try the next one. They will go fast so act fast. It helps promote further if you click the “add to collection” box and make sure you’re logged into your free account. Also be sure to download from the link it takes you to or the email that comes when you have an account in your choice of format including mp3, WAV, and FLAC for all you audiophiles out there.

About the Band

Third Island is a post metal band formed in 2015 and based in Ireland. Drawing from a wide array of influences including doom, post rock, shoegaze, sludge, and stoner rock, the band aims to create a unique sound blending huge guitars tones and dark atmospheres.

Third Island – Omelas

“Omelas” is the first full length album, and third release, by Irish Post-Metal band Third Island.

This album’s concept follows the story of “The Ones Who Walk Away From The Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin. The story presents the ideal Utopian society, where people are certain to prosper definitely into the future, so long as they are happy not to question the methods behind their City’s success. There are some who cannot take the success of the City so simply, and who choose instead to seek out the secrets deeper within. The answers, however, are often worse than they are prepared for, and leaves the people with only two choices – to live silently with this knowledge or be exiled into the Mountains, a place from where no-one has ever returned.

Written over the course of a year, the album lyrically and musically explores the themes of the story; the joy of discovery, the pride of the city, the anger and sadness of learning the truth, and final isolation of the ultimatum. This is achieved through a meld of genres, shifting slowly through melancholic post-rock and progressive passages into oppressive, anxious doom and sludge.

Special thanks to Third Island for this Friday Freebie offering. And thanks to the ongoing contributors and readers of the monthly Doom Chart. You folks help give voice to the heavy underground:

Feel free to send in your albums to stonerdoomcharts@gmail.com where they’ll be delegated to the crew for a better chance at getting heard and voted on. Anything goes. If you run a blog, music review site, radio show, zine, etc in the realm of the heavy underground music scene and are interested in joining the team of contributors, drop us a mail as well.

“It was all about filling the void inside of us and the void that was the desert around us. We played heavy rock musik to fill that void inside of us. Inside our hearts.

-John Garcia

The void is always present. And a void needs to be filled. That is the law of nature. And as John Garcia, Brant Bjork, Nick Oliveri and Joshua Homme filled the void in their life by creating music in the early 90’s, the contributors of the Doom Charts fill their life today with music that is made of the same force of that same universe that the boys of Kyuss used. There is a great power in music. It is driven by electricity that feeds the amplifiers and speakers that harness the power of the riff and sends it right into that void that exists inside all of us.

This is the Doom Charts. A chart made by the people (bloggers, music journalists, podcasters and others) that listen to an enormous amount of new music from the heavy underground every day of the year. And every month the contributers to the Doom Charts reports up to 25 albums that has made an impression on them. When the vote is counted and the magic of mathematics has done it’s thing you get the Doom Charts delivered right here. And hopefully you will discover something new here that will fill some part of that void that you might have inside of you.

Somerset’s Sergeant Thunderhoof are that weird exception to the rule, a band who have turned down record label interest so that they can control their own destiny, a band who like doing things for themselves, and more power to them for doing that because so far it seems to be working. Terra Solus is the bands third studio album and if you are familiar with their past work you will know to expect plenty of addictive grooviness, raucous riffage and hazy psychedelics all executed with a breath-taking level of musicianship and outstanding display of vocal dynamics and Terra Solus does not disappoint in any of those departments.

I hope you’re fucking ready because something gnarly is roaring out of the sky at a million miles an hour and it’s going to wreck us all. I’m talking about a Hashteroid crashing in from outer space with a dank load ready to melt your flesh before you realize what’s happening! This is a band that’s here to hit you hard and fast with a style that mixes stoner metal with Motörhead’s early years — frantic, upbeat, and kind of punky!

Fu Manchu has consistently played to their strengths on this album. While the album is rocking and fun on one hand it is a little dark and pessimistic in spots, kind of like a good monster movie. The record hits on all the sweet spots of classic Fu Manchu, astral planes, monsters, speed and a little bit of paranoia (not sure what would be causing that…..)

As indicated by the surprisingly menacing album art, Mos Generator has never been as heavy or dark as they are on Shadowlands. Past outings like 2014’s Electric Mountain Majesty have their hard-hitting moments, but it’s hard to think of a time when the Washington band’s approach has sounded this muscular. There’s not even been any shift to all-out metal either; Tony Reed and co.’s love of all things ’70s rock is firmly intact.

Kansas City riff conjurers Merlin have gifted us with yet another new record, The Wizard (2018). If you think this is just doom as usual, think again. In fact, give this a listen right now. The first thing you’ll notice is the prominence of the saxophone, something Merlin have been experimenting with off and on for some time, but now have incorporated into their compositions in a way I find quite convincing. “It’s been four long years since Merlin’s last conceptual album, Christ Killer, was released,” frontman Jordan Knorr tells us. “In that time of chaos, band members have come and gone, the cast has changed, equipment has broken, alliances were created, and a whole lot of rituals have been performed… Merlin have twisted our sound even further into the realms of the mystic unknown and unfamiliar territory.” All things considered, ‘The Wizard’ is a joyous celebration of doom, psychedelia, and magick.

The Throneless Swedes return after a bestial debut in 2015. A devastating second album full of hatred and fury, misanthropy transformed into monolithic and distorted riffs, vocal laments that emerge from the depths of the earth, a colossal album that represents faithfully the apocalyptic message preached by Black Bow Records.

Shrooms Circle from Vevey, Switzerland appear to have an inclination for providing ceremonial drug laced stoner doom. The debut is deliciously fortified with heavy riffs, ritualistic organs and Satanic evangelistic vocals on all seven tracks, which by the way includes two demos. We’re talking low heavy distortion, melodic vocals, smothering fuzz, mellotron worship from hell! A self explanatory musical offering in the form of a simple yet very respectable collection of tunes worth acquiring, soon to be released on Golden Dawn Recordings (Chile).

I don’t know what happened between this album and their last one, but Boss Keloid have taken a serious evolutionary leap forward. I mean, we were crazy about previous records, but ‘Melted on the Inch’ (2018) is absolutely possessed by a mad fever of creative inspiration. From “Chronosiam” on, we’re treated to unexpectedly fresh songcraft, one surprise (the plucky “Tarku Shavel”) after another (the proggy, jazzy-infused “Peykruve“). You never quite know what’s in store for you next, but what you do know is that each Boss Keloid track will be filled with thoughtful touches, whether that means experimenting with complex rhythms, unusual instrumentation or alluring vocal harmonies in this moment or that. Now, if you loved the “old” Boss Keloid this might have you worried, but fear not – Alex Hurst and the boys have not lost even a fraction of the gritty soul that made them so special to begin with. Melted on the Inch is, quite frankly, just the shot in the arm the heavy underground needed to encourage everyone to start pushing beyond their stylistic moorings.

New Jersey’s rockin’-est trade in their space suits for leather jackets and get all Punk AF on their 11th studio full-length. These stoner rock pioneers return to their roots and show the old school and new why Monster Magnet is a household name the whole world over…with a no-nonsense record devoid of BS and polish. Mindfucker is Rock ‘N Roll psychotherapy for the music loving masses”

On their debut full-length, Wolftooth borrows nothing but the best from their musical idols and leaves the rest on the cutting room floor. Strong song writing, bluesy grooves, thrashy riffs, and southern harmonies make this one a real winner. Whether it’s the bouncing mid-tempo beat of “Aegaeon” or the slower paced rocker “Season of the Witch,” there’s a lot here to enjoy. I recommend listening while LARPing with your friends in an open field, or maybe something more low-key like an imaginary battle with your six-year-old son in the comfort of your living room.

Heavy metal thunder! That’s the only way to describe the first full length effort from these Bay Area metal warriors. With the mindset of early 80’s metal and the soul of Seattle in the 90’s The Watchers forges a new breed of steel made heavy with great riffs and howling vocals. Get your spikes, bullet belts, denim and leather and lets bang these heads people!

The Thundering Heard is a stampede of creative riffs and sonic textures. Woven together into a tight tapestry of bottom-heavy tracks, the feel of the album is simultaneously sinister and meditative. Upon first listen, it’s hard not to be impressed by the sheer power of the music, but the true beauty is revealed through repeated plays. It’s here that the brilliantly balanced mix and frequency separation dazzles the ears, navigating deep oceans of bass and chaotic fretboard explorations, with equal skill. The Thundering Heard is an auditory tour-de-force, and one of 2018’s standout releases.

Whether dropping from the heavens or conjured from the depths of hell, Frayle‘s The White Witch EP, seemed to materialize out of thin air. Minimalistic in form, it pulses and drones, shimmers and beguiles, propelled by tribal rhythms and hypnotic pacing. The White Witch’s magic is potent, deriving its power from the subtle, vulnerable delivery of the vocals. Take heed, Frayle cast a spell that’s not easily broken.

The modern day answer to good, clean rock n roll. The Beast Remains heavy on the guitar driven hooks, Ozzy inspired vocals, and undeniable rhythm. “Like a drug I’m addicted to the madness” This band is Solid Gold!

It’s tricky to tell if Turnip’s more alternative rock approach to stoner blues was intentional, but it does make for a great album. It’d be easy to let the instruments blur completely together and lose the songwriting in the process, but the balanced mix keeps this from happening and the memorable riffs allow for repeat listens. I imagine fans of groups like All Them Witches, Merlin, and Elephant Tree will find this to be an enjoyably relaxing listen. Chill rock music for a desert night.

Messa is another band that has broken free of stylistic constraints, manifesting a brilliant metamorphosis with every album the produce. I knew how special ‘Feast for Water’ (2018) was going to be when I heard single, “Leah.” It struck me with the same send of awe that “Babalon” did on their last album, ‘Belfry’ (2016). It alone is worth the price of admission for the brilliant way it wrangles together doom, blues, and jazz influences and makes them all play nice together. It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what to call this album. It’s most definitely metal, but not unlike the latest Boss Keloid offering, Feast For Water manages to transcend the boundaries of genre. It’s as though music has entered a strange Event Horizon where the lines of convention bend and blur in beautiful contradiction. One thing that is consistent throughout the record, of course, is that this is dark, melancholy fare with flashes of sunlight breaking through the clouds. Feast for Water is an experience and I suspect if the band grows in recognition, the Italian collective will be putting on some incredible live shows with this material.

Lonely Kamel have released one hell of a magnificent album, regardless of the album cover, which is ironically fitting. Combining an absolute crushing volume of riffs in line with High on Fire with a ballsy energy of Clutch and bluesy swagger of label mates Spidergawd, Deaths-Head Hawkmoth will melt your mind and your back porch light bulb. Turn this shit up and prepare for heavy rock metamorphosis.

After four years, Apostle of Solitude is back with new music for the downtrodden and broken people of the world. From Gold to Ash is their heaviest and most somber outing to date, and you won’t find any up-tempo songs like on their previous efforts. What you will find are slow burning, complex songs with intricate vocal harmonies courtesy of Chuck Brown and Steve Janiak. The seven tracks perfectly encapsulate the feelings of being trapped beneath the cloud covered grey skies of Indianapolis during the dreary winter months. Highlights include the sleepy melodies of “Autumn Moon” and the solemn heartfelt vibes of “My Heart is Leaving Here.” Highly recommended!

The sounds of fiery stoned psychedelic rock blasting from my headphones means that Black Rainbows have got a new album out. It feels a bit darker and heavier this time around. Fuzz, powerful riffs, great song compositions and vocals buried under the sonic assault continue the fine run of Black Rainbows releases.

On Gozu’s last record Revival really showed their qualities. The ballsy downtuned guitars and rhythm section were a strong combo with the clean vocals. Equilibrium is all about perfecting Gozu’s kickass sound. The songs are better crafted, the transitions within the songs sound smoother and the (back up) vocal lines catchier than ever. Without losing nothing of that heaviness we love about this band.

The all-female outfit Blackwater Holylight, releases their first effort through RidingEasy Records. Resounding riffs, enchanting vocals and a rhythmic approach that melt over in each other and galvanizes your moment in time. A wild, heavy, fuzzy, psychedelic record that will make you dream of witches and will make your dreams bewitched. Impressive debut for sure!

Earthless are back and this time with a twist – vocals! But never fear, faithful fanatics, the sonic madness and mind bending riffing are still here but with a sense of purpose …sometimes I felt previous songs could be interchanged with any album – after all, jam based freak-outs can kinda sound the same. But now with vocals circa early 70’s, each song gains its own identity. Nothing has really changed that much – just tighter, freakier and much head nodding moments. Embrace the changes …. You might like it!

The Sciences man, ya dig?! It’s heavy as fuck. It’s weird as shit. The lyrics are insanely trippy and subversive. It’s all wrapped up in a Weedian ethos whose dank stench is stronger than ever. This is the album I’ve been waiting for. This is the album I needed. The Sciences is a genre defining album by the band that defined the genre over 20 years ago. They are the gods of the riff and they are stoned immaculate. The riff tree is risen and the Pterodactyl flies again. Fucking Righteous!